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The Most Powerful Production V8 in the World Belongs to the Mustang

Here come the superlatives!

The biggest. The best. The most powerful. The awesomest. (I made that last one up, but I like it.)

Yes, the battle to be the best has all come down to this. In our modern world of American muscle cars, where horsepower is king and dyno tests reign supreme, we have a new champion. A new wearer of the crown for the Most Powerful Production V8 in the World!

Ford grabbed the attention of the auto world when it announced the 2013 Shelby GT500 would come with 650 horses. That was just an estimate, of course, released prior to official testing. Now we have word from the Team Shelby forum that the 2013 GT500 finally took its test and way overachieved.

To the tune of 662 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque.

I don’t have to tell you those numbers are purely insane. For some perspective, the Chevy Camaro ZL1 tops out at a comparatively weak 580 horsepower. The GT500 shreds more pavement than the mighty Corvette ZR1 and its 638 horsepower and 604 lb-ft.

Will Chevy and Dodge even attempt to match the Shelby’s numbers with the Camaro and Challenger? Not without upping the power of the ‘Vette and Viper first!

Mustang fans, enjoy, for this may be the swan song of this pony’s power. Come 2014, the Mustang as we know it may very well be a toned-down Euro-style hybrid shell of its former self. Which, quite honestly, is probably a very good thing.

I hope the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang goes down in history as the most powerful production Mustang ever built. After this, it’s time to move on. Agree?

…and yet, you have that motor in one of the dullest, most redundant automotive products in the world. Where Porsche has evolved the 911 into what is consistently one of the world’s best sports cars, the Mustang had devolved into a caricature of itself, becoming the bluntest of blunt instruments. What good is 650 HP that you can’t put on the ground or get around a corner?